Naturally, questions about cohesion were a theme of preseason. Canaan has made an average of two made three pointers per game and has been a huge spark for the team. “I thought they really came out and really got to us”. “The chemistry is coming along (but) it’s early”.
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“Our intensity has been really good”, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. Defenses are still laying off Wade and Rondo on the perimeter, daring them to shoot three-pointers (both are just 28% career three-point shooters). They hit 11 of their 27 three-point attempts, setting a franchise record for most made three-pointers in the first three games of the season.
Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and Taj Gibson finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Bulls improved to 3-0 with their overhauled lineup after dealing former MVP Derrick Rose and letting Joakim Noah sign as a free agent with the Knicks over the summer. Los Angeles’ offense has been slow to catch up with its defense early this season, but the Suns were no match on the defensive end as the Clippers got into a rhythm. Jimmy Butler has started the season on a tear and has been ultra-efficient shooting 50% from the field while having a spectacular 1.725 PPS (points per shot). They beat the Celtics in their opener and followed it up with a solid 17-point victory against the Indiana Pacers.
Nets: Coach Kenny Atkinson said guard Randy Foye, who hasn’t played yet because of a strained right hamstring, was “progressing well”. “I’m proud of our resiliency”.
In addition, Brooklyn will need to do a better job of using their three-point shooting to get better looks inside the arc. “Turnovers hurt us. We had a lot of open looks, and at the end we had a chance to win the game”.
Bogdanovic led the Nets with 15 points while Jeremy Lin added 14 and Brook Lopez had 13 in 22 minutes after resting Saturday.
On paper, the Bulls are a far better team than this Brooklyn squad, but I’m feeling a close game here.
Brooklyn ran isolations on 6.8 percent of their possessions last season according to Synergy Sports (which was right about league average) and ran traditional post-up plays on 10 percent of their possessions, good for 5th overall. Other than Shane Larkin bringing the ball up and Thomas Robinson running into the center of the lane, Lopez and Kilpatrick are the only players in motion during this set.
“I’m not surprised. I think whenever you buy into it and you hang out as much as we do and we know each other the way we do, I think it helps”, Butler said. “I went through the full practice”, Smart told reporters on Monday. “To start a season like that, it’s big for us. Soon enough he’ll be at his normal minutes”. In fact, in recent years, he’s seen his value decrease below that of his twin brother, Chicago Bulls’ center Robin Lopez. It is the 14th meeting between the siblings and this is the fifth opposing team Robin has been with after spending time with Phoenix, New Orleans, Portland and NY. Robin’s teams have won eight of those games. Paul Millsap added 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Since 2000, the Nets are just 3-4 on Halloween night and, in fact, you’ve got to go all the way back to 2010-2011 to find the last time they were victorious on this date. I do however see Chicago pulling this one out in the latter stages of the game.
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Monday will mark Wade’s 39th regular-season meeting against the Nets. By garbage time, the 12-time All-Star was getting loud ovations from some fans. Brooklyn’s first two losses had been by a combined seven points in Milwaukee and Boston but the Nets could not keep pace with their up-tempo opponent.
